


Twin Potters and The Philosopher's Stone

by HopelesslyObsessed



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Character, Dark Magic, F/M, Harry Potter Has a Twin, Omegaverse, Twin Potters, book 1 rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 23:51:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelesslyObsessed/pseuds/HopelesslyObsessed
Summary: Grace Potter is the long lost twin sister of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. While only Lily Potter died the night the twins got the scar, Grace was separated from her brother shortly after and was raised by James's little sister, Olivia, a presumed dead dark witch. She grew up being raised surrounded by magic and the Dark Arts and has a knack towards using it. However, going to Hogwarts opens up opportunities for meeting new friends, learning new things, and even forming her ever desired friendship with her brother. Only the Dark Magic in her begins to eat away at her inner being, and she has to find a way to harness the rogue magic in her to avoid mutating into the next Dark Lord.





	Twin Potters and The Philosopher's Stone

The hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley during the weeks before Hogwarts always caused Grace to groan out of frustration, especially during the rush hours of mid afternoon  .  The streets were always packed with wizards and witches, but after lunch they were even more so, to the point where Grace could reach out with her arm in any direction and hit at least one witch, wizard, or muggle parent of the muggleborn students  .  As a result of the  overly  crowded streets, Grace had a hard time focusing on finding the right shop she was trying to visit  .  It was so hard in fact, that she had felt tempted to wait in the last store she visited until the roads cleared, but she didn’t know how long that would take and she needed to meet up with her aunt .

 

 She scanned the shops around her on both sides of the street, intent on spotting the wand shop Ollivanders, so she could get her wand  .  The shop itself was a few stores down on the left hand side of the road, situated between two larger, and much newer shops  . Its two barreled windows that flanked its door and its  overall  dull color made it easy to spot. Grace hurried to slip inside.

 

As the door closed behind her, she heard a faint sigh from the back and a scruffy old man with wispy white hair, whom she assumed was Mr. Ollivander, stepped out to meet her  .  His shoulders curved forward the slightest bit as he stood and his robes were by no means fancy, but he gave off a quirky, but  grandfatherly  feel .

 

“How many I help you, Young Lady?” He asked kindly, although his expression was knowing.  After all, this was a wand shop, and all he sold was wands, no one would her age would come here for any other purpose than to buy a wand for Hogwarts  . He  just  wants to be polite, she told herself and flashed a warm smile towards the old man.  She wasn’t there against her will, in fact, she wanted to be there, so she might as well get it over with and not act like a little child  just  because her aunt wasn't there with her .

 

“I’m here to get my wand,” She replied.  Mr. Ollivander nodded and several enchanted measuring tapes flew out of his pockets and took note of the weirdest measurements  .  She didn’t know why the distance between her knee and ankle was necessary for choosing her wand, but she didn’t object to his methods  .  After all, the Ollivander family owned the oldest and most popular wand shop in Great Britain, and his wands were always effective, reliable, and of a fine quality .

 

“Hold out your wand-arm,” He instructed moments later and Grace held out her right hand.  He removed a wand from one of the many boxes that filled the room from floor to ceiling and placed it  gingerly  in her open hand .

 

“Maple, phoenix feather core, quite pliable,” He described the wand and Grace closed her hand around it . When she tried it out, a bright flash of sparks jumped from the tip of the wand. It sent an odd feeling jolting up her arm, and she knew that she didn’t want it. Mr. Ollivander proceeded to take the wand from her hand and handed her another.

 

Like the first one, the reaction was small and didn’t seem right. She tried wand after wand, getting a small response from most, but none from others. I seemed as though she wouldn’t find the right wand. Even Mr. Ollivander mused to himself about having to go back to some of his older wands that he had in storage.

 

He disappeared into the back of his shop for a few moments and returned with a couple of wand boxes.  The first one he had her try, which he described as cherry with a dragon heartstring core, glowed  brightly  when placed in her hand  .  However , it grew very hot to the touch and she dropped it out of fear of burning the inside of her hand.

 

This earned an intrigued look from the wand maker and he shuffled through the boxes he had brought from the back  . He settled on an old and dusty box and pulled out the wand that  was kept  inside.

 

This wand grabbed Grace’s attention as it was  elegantly  crafted. The tan-brown wood appeared to be an off shade of red and a  lightly  carved, cobweb design adorned the base of the wand.  It struck Grace as antique, something that she might read about in medieval stories or what she might catch a glimpse of inside of an old family’s home  .  Other than its old fashioned design, the wand was straight, smooth, and well polished, appearing to be of high quality .

 

Carefully  , she held out her hand and when he placed it in her hand, she gasped. A violent red flash of light, sent from her wand, struck the ceiling, causing pieces of it to rain down on top of them.  She sucked in a breath out of surprise and shock, and braced to have the wand maker criticize her for doing something wrong .

 

On the contrary  to what she expected, Mr. Ollivander said nothing and fixed the damage with a quick spell as Grace muttered her apologies  . He shrugged them off and turned his attention to her wand.  The look in his eye was curious, but knowing, as if he had put together an important piece of knowledge  regarding  her wand

 

“Ah, cherry, twelve and a half inches long, phoenix feather core, and unyielding flexibility,” He retailed as Grace got a feel for the wand after the display of magic that it gave . “Quite rare, that wand is, and capable of powerful magic.”

 

“I love it,” Grace commented and adjusted her grip. The wand felt perfect in her hand, like a custom wand would have.  With a flick of her wrist a glowing stream of cream light snaked around her, it  gracefully  hung in the air around her for a few seconds before dissipating in a shimmering light .

 

Mr. Ollivander smiled, “My grandfather made that wand many years ago, but it never sold despite its high quality  . The wood, cherry, is very rare in itself as it is hard to come by, but combined with the phoenix feather core...” He trailed. “You  are destined  for a high status, Young Lady. You will be very great.

 

He watched her wrist movements with a careful eye as she gripped her wand a little tighter and admired its design  . She didn’t hesitate to try out different wand movements, ones her aunt had drilled into her head from a young age.  Most of the wand movements were mere exercises that loosened up the wrist for more precise spell work, but a few flicks of the wand were for some of the trickier spells that she was trying to master  .  Suddenly  the tip of her wand gave a bright flash of white light and she raised her hands to shield her eyes, she hadn't felt any magic coming from herself, at had been the wand .

 

Hesitantly  , she lowered her hands and looked over at Mr. Ollivander when the light faded. He once again seemed devoid of any  indication  of feeling upset at what she had done.

 

“The Phoenix feather core,” He answered her silent questioning look with a smile. “Capable of acting on their own accord, not the most desirable trait, I must admit, but the core is of a very high quality.”

 

She gave a half hearted smile out of embarrassment and didn’t hesitate to ask for the price of the wand.

 

“That will be twelve galleons.” Ollivander named the price. Grace saw it fitting, for such a rare combination. He even said it himself that he had never sold that pairing before. She fished her silk coin purse out of the many folds of her robes and counted out the correct amount of galleons.

 

There was a soft creaking as the door to the shop opened. Grace turn to spot a very well dressed woman in expensive robes stride into the shop with purposed steps.  The woman was very pale in complexion with flawless appearing skin and light blonde hair that was very  elegantly  styled  .  She was beautiful without a shadow of a doubt and Grace found it safe so assume that she was from one of the old pure-blooded wizarding families that had earned rather large fortunes over the years .

 

The woman paid Grace no attention and strode up to Mr. Ollivander and demanded to see his finest wands.  Grace stood memorized by the woman's actions for a few moments as the woman sifted through several wand boxes, dismissing those that she deemed unworthy for her son, whom Grace assumed she was getting the wand for . Feeling a bit intimidated by her presence, Grace turned back to her task.

 

She finished paying in a hurry and scampered out of the shop, stepping back into Diagon Alley. The hustle of the road still bothered her, but at least she had a clear mind about her next destination.  She headed towards the Leaky Cauldron where she had promised to meet up with her aunt, holding onto her wand out of fear that it would fall out of her pocket should she put it there  .  As she walked along the cobblestone road, weaving  in between  the crowds of people who were also shopping for Hogwarts supplies, she toyed with the wand, casting a few, harmless jinxes on random items in the street such as an owl cage, or feather  .  She wasn't supposed to know magic before Hogwarts, but nobody had stopped her so far so she figured that is nobody found out that she knew magic, nobody could pin it to her .

 

Almost immediately after stepping foot into the Leaky Cauldron, Grace spotted her aunt Olivia sitting at a table in the far corner of the pub with a cup of tea in her hand  .  Her aunt’s dark raven hair was almost impossible to miss amongst the many heads around her that consisted of various shades of browns, blonds and reds  .  Her aunt also appeared to be in deep conversation with a rather handsome young man with the same dark raven hair  .  It looked as though they were old friends which was a bit odd as her aunt hardly mentioned knowing anyone well enough to even call them a friend .

 

“Hey, Aunt Olivia,” She greeted her aunt and took a seat at the table next to her.

 

“Oh good, Grace, you're back. I take it that you got your wand?” Her aunt hinted that she wanted a look at Grace’s newest possession.  Grace nodded and loosened her grip on her wand and hand it over to her aunt who accepted it with an intrigued expression and excitement  .  If Grace didn't know any better, she would have assumed that her aunt was more excited for her getting a wand that she was .

 

Grace didn’t bother to avert her gaze from the man who sat across from her aunt as her wasn't paying her much attention as his focus was still on her aunt  .  It was rather eerie how much the man seemed familiar, his presence didn't feel like a stranger's and something in her core pulsated towards him, as if her were a relative  .  Grace examined his features, trying to place them to something--anything that could give her context to who he was  . She got nothing. She shared a glance with her aunt who  merely  smiled and hinted back at the man sitting across from them.  Grace took another look at the man and noticed the color of his eyes, not that they were odd or weird, but rather because they were a comforting shade of hazel that emphasized her familiarity of him  .  She was certain that she had seen his eyes somewhere else before, but she could not remember for the life of her and her aunt wasn't being very helpful either .

 

“Mr. Ollivander said it was cherry with a phoenix feather core,” Grace told her aunt, who was studying the wand  carefully  . She seemed quite impressed with the craftsmanship. Her aunt then passed the wand to the man who sat across the table and he also got a good look at it.  For a split second, Grace felt violated that her aunt had  just  passed a personal possession to a complete stranger.

 

“You know, my own wand  was made  of mahogany,” He began as he studied the wood. “I always favored it as I found it quite reliable and handsome.  I can tell that this is a fine wand, with cherry being of such high quality and the core being  exceptionally  powerful . I can tell you’re going to be a great witch,” The man beamed at Grace and she was able to place where she had seen his eyes. That smile was her own, along with the eyes. This man was James Potter, her father.

 

Grace blushed at the comment. She hadn’t gotten one from him in person before.  She often received praise from her father, but it had always been over a letter as she had never met him in person due to living apart for so long and the fact that her aunt wasn't exactly a respectable citizen .

 

“Thanks.”  She averted her gaze down to the floor before glancing back up at her father as she built up the confidence to speak with him . “Mr. Ollivander said that it’s a rare combination and he seemed quite interested in the fact that it had chosen me.” Grace eyed her father’s movements as he held the wand in his hand, comparing it to his own out of curiosity.

 

He shared a glance with her aunt before looking back at her with an unmistakable gleam of mischief in his eye. “You know what, Grace? I was  just  having a conversation with your aunt here about when she got her wand.” He smirked.

 

“James, please, that story’s not something I’d lik-” Her aunt tried to end the story, but she got cut off.

 

“Ollivander handed her a yew wand with a dragon heartstring core and when she ended up with it, she felt crushed.” Her father looked over at her aunt who was glaring daggers at him before continuing with a cheeky grin.  “She cried herself to sleep that night because she thought everyone would think she was going to turn evil, because she had let  all of  the wandlore she’d read up on get to her head . Of course, that was befo-”

 

“That’s enough, James.” Her aunt snapped, cutting the story short. “You can tell her the rest later, when we’re away from listening ears.” She gestured to the people in crowded pub.  It wasn't hard to put together that she assumed that the people seated around them would listen in and hear the sensitive details of the story .

 

Her father nodded in agreement and handed Grace her wand with a smile. “Yes well, I'd better be going anyway,” He stood up and straightened his robes. “Harry is going to be waiting for me at Flourish and Blotts. We agreed to meet there. Have a nice day, Grace. You too, Olivia. I’ll owl when I have the time.” And with that, he headed to the back entrance to Diagon Alley.

 

Grace turned to her aunt, a bit dazed by the whole conversation. “Was that  really  my dad?” She asked in a whisper.  It was obvious that he was, but the whole thing didn't seem to settle in as reality; something in the back of her mind tried to convince her that it was all a dream and that the man she had been talking with wasn't her father .

 

Her aunt laughed. “Oh, yes, most definitely. Once you get to know him more you’ll see that he has a knack for laughter and tends to be quite humorous. But he hates  being told  off, you see, as he never  really  had to deal with that while we were growing up.”

 

Grace smiled.  Her dad seemed to be quite nice, and she could tell that she had taken after him in the area of not liking it when her stories  were cut  short or when someone told her off  .  She felt proud to know that she shared personality traits with her father, despite not  being raised by  him .

 

She had gotten letters from her father in the past, but none of them seemed to portray his full personality like her aunt had described him  . As a result, she didn’t know the full extent  as to  how much she had taken after him or gotten a full scope of his character.

 

The two of them sat in silence for the few minutes that passed after her father left as her aunt finished up her cup of tea.  Grace wanted to hear more about her father and about Hogwarts so that she'd be ready, but her aunt looked deep in thought and she found it best not to bother her  .  After her aunt finished her drink, they got up and left through the front entrance, making small talk as they walked down the road a ways  .  Her aunt told her of the progress she was making on her newest potion, and Grace listened with careful intentions, wanting to know everything about her aunt's progress  .  When they reached an apparition point, Grace grabbed hold of her aunt’s arm as she apparated home, neither of them even paused in their conversation .

 

They arrived home in the backyard garden, where her aunt grew her potions ingredients and which was always in full bloom  .  Of course, there were some non magical plants there as well, such as a red maple tree and a handful of berry bushes that her kept for their pleasant looks  .  Grace often aided her aunt in tending to the plants, weeding and watering them in return for a potions lesson or two from her aunt  .  The garden was also the common apparition point her aunt had sent up as the house possessed many wards that kept anyone from apparating  directly  inside of the house .

 

Grace  quickly  made her way inside to where her aunt had dropped off her school supplies from shopping earlier  .  In  nearly  no time at all, Grace had her nose buried deep in her school books, soaking in all the information she could before Hogwarts  .  Of course, thanks to her aunt’s private lessons, Grace already knew the theory behind what would  be covered  through her third year, she  just  wanted to refresh her memory and double check her knowledge.

 

As she read on,  however  , her mind’s thoughts began to wonder as the information was familiar to her and she had too many other thoughts on her mind  .  She wondered if her twin, Harry, was reading his books as well or if he had any sort of past learning experience with magic as she had  .  She remembered her father writing in a letter once that books weren’t Harry's sort of thing, but she couldn't remember if Harry had learned any of the magic that they'd learn at school  .  Of course, even if he did she doubted that he'd be able to keep it on the down low as her father had written that Harry wanted to be in Gryffindor, the Hogwarts house known for recklessness  . If Harry knew any sort of magic, he'd  probably  tell someone at the very least.

 

Personally  , Grace had her eyes set on Slytherin, the house of the clever and resourceful.  She knew from self-reflection and from her aunt that she had a lot of the Slytherin traits, and that many of them, such as self-preservation and resourcefulness, were quite dominant  .  Also, Slytherin had a sense of pride that  was lacked  in the other houses and it had a very interesting history as its founding member was a man of many secrets and was often considered to be a dark wizard .

 

Grace  was aroused  from her thoughts by a soft tap on her bedroom door.  Moments later, the door creaked open to reveal her aunt who was holding a golden owl cage.He aunt  carefully  walked into the room and stood in front of Grace .

 

“Hey, Grace, sorry to bother you, but I got this for your birthday and forgot to give it to you until now. Happy birthday.”  She handed her the cage which held a very handsome barn owl which had busied itself with pruning a few of its wing feathers . “So, do you have any name ideas?” She asked a minute later. Grace gave it some thought.

 

“I like the name Rusty, it goes with his feathers,” She considered. “But Ghost is a cool name too, after all, barn owls were often mistaken as ghosts by muggles when they moved into a barn.” Grace put down her book as she tried to decide which name to use.

 

“Both names are great if you ask me,” Her aunt replied with a smile. “I say  just  pick the one that sounds more natural, that’s what I did with Juniper.” Grace pondered the names for a minute.  Both seemed  relatively  natural, but something about the name Rusty  really  grabbed her attention .

 

“ I think  I’ll go with Rusty,” She decided.  Her aunt agreed with her choice and produced a small bag of owl treats from the pet shop that they had stopped in that morning .

 

“These are Juniper’s favorite brand, they’re very high end and are healthy for the owl, as long as they don’t eat too many.” Grace opened the bag and pulled out a single owl treat. It resembled a carrot, but it was roughly half the size of her pinkie finger.

  

Rusty eyed the treat  carefully  as Grace brought it near his cage. Once her fingers were close enough to the cage, he nipped it out of her hands, causing her to flinch back. A laugh sounded from the door as the owl looked at her for more. 

 

“He likes you,” Her aunt laughed and Grace looked up with a confused expression. “If he didn’t like you he would have taken your finger off.” her aunt continued. “I remember my mother’s owl almost took my finger off when I attempted to give her a treat. It scared me so much that I didn’t get an owl for myself until a few years ago. 

  

Grace smirked.  Her aunt had never told her about anything that had scared her before, and now, she was going to have a little bit of fun with it  . “  Really  ?”  She said  mockingly  , “I never would have thought that Olivia Potter, the greatest dark witch known for being an insufferable Gryffindor, would have a fear problem with an owl .” 

  

“Oh please, Grace,” Her aunt scoffed.  “You know that I wouldn’t call myself a Gryffindor if my life depended on it, even if I do tend to made bold, and sometimes rash, decisions  . Besides, I never got sorted, but if I had, I  probably  wouldn’t have been a Gryffindor.”

 

“The what house would you have been in, hmm?” Grace asked as she gave Rusty another treat.

 

“Most likely Ravenclaw, I didn’t indulge in the dark arts until after I was unable to attend Hogwarts and I didn’t have many Slytherin traits at the time  .” She pondered. “You,  however  , are definitely a Slytherin.  Sure, you may have traits from the other houses, but your Slytherin traits are more dominant as well as your ambitions and methods in general .”

 

“I know, you always say that,” Grace muttered as she thought about being in the Slytherin house. From what she had heard, many of the Slytherins were kids of Death Eaters and  were known  to dabble in the Dark arts. If she were in Slytherin, she could most likely find a way to practice the ‘darker’ spells that her aunt had taught her. 

 

“Yes, I have, but it’s true. But don’t think that it’s a bad thing. Slytherin is a fine house.  While it does produce more dark wizards than any other house, the good wizards and witches it produces are often some of the most self-disciplined in the wizarding world,” Her aunt insisted with a sense of pride . “Now only if your father could see that.”

 

Now Grace was curious, why wouldn’t her father like such a noble house?  It's not like Slytherins were weak or anything like Hufflepuffs who were complete pushovers most of the time . “Why can’t he? Slytherin might as well be the best house because it doesn't make bad traits look good like some of the others.”

 

Her aunt’s expression changed to be a solemn one and Grace assumed that she'd said something wrong.  Her aunt was generally a happy person and rarely did she ever seem downcast when talking about Hogwarts, even though Grace knew it was a sensitive topic for her .

 

“Well, you know that there is a house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor as they don’t tend to get along on account of their values,” her aunt explained  .  “Then there’s the fact that one of the Slytherins in your father and mother’s year liked your mom and was good friends with her during their early years  . I'm not completely sure  as to  what happened, but I know that James didn’t like that very much as he liked your mother too. I guess he and your father fought a lot and hated each other with a passion, even after Lily started dating James.”

 

“But my mom got married to my dad, not the other guy, so why does my dad still hate the house?” Grace inquired.

 

“Like I said, it could be the house rivalry or the hatred for the poor guy, but it could also be the fact that the Dark Lord, who killed your mother, was from Slytherin .”

 

“Oh,” Grace processed the thought.  She knew her father hated the Dark Lord and wanted to nothing to do with anything related to him because of what he did to her mom  .  However  , the Dark Lord had been dead and the war had been over for  nearly  ten years,  surely  her father could bring himself to forgive the Slytherin house after all this time, it's not like the house could fight against him or anything .

 

“Of course, I know that I wouldn’t mind at all if you got into Slytherin, in fact  I think  that you should be in Slytherin even if you didn't want to be  .  Serves your father right for disliking people on account of their house and it would definitely knock him down a peg or two with his high hopes of Potters always being in Gryffindor  .  Same goes for your brother, Harry, although I’m sure James has told him enough bad things Slytherin to get him into Gryffindor for sure .”

 

"Get him into Gryffindor? What? Aren’t you sorted based on your personality?” Grace asked. “How could knowing bad things about a house change how you’re sorted?”

 

Her aunt gave her a warm smile.  “ To be honest, I’m not exactly sure myself, I never actually got sorted, but from what I’ve gathered from my friends, and James, the sorting hat takes suggestions  .  I bet he told Harry about it, so that he would most likely end up in Gryffindor, despite how many Slytherin traits he might have .

 

Grace knew her brother had several Slytherin traits such as determination and cleverness, even if he acted dumber than a doorknob sometimes--according to her father  .  However  , she knew that he shared a lot of traits with Gryffindor as well and was quite determined to follow in their father’s footsteps and join Gryffindor .

 

The two of them continued on in conversation for a while, talking about the different houses and odd quirks about the old school  .  They talked until dinner and even then, they continued to discuss other things as they cleaned up, such as how no one knew that either of them existed and that Hogwarts would be in for a surprise when she showed up as the sister to the Boy-Who-Lived  .  That did spark up some curiosity in Grace, though, about how everyone was still clueless about her existence .

 

“But if no one knows I exist, how did I get my Hogwarts letter?” Grace asked as they wound down for the night.

 

“I was meaning to tell you that,” Her aunt replied as she put the last of the dishes away. “When I put your name down for Hogwarts, I put down a fake name, I hope you don’t mind.  You see, at the time, I had  just  taken you in after Lily's murder and I didn’t want you to  be put  into the spotlight at such a young age  .  Plus, if the dark witch Olivia, who  is supposed  to be dead, put a name down for her niece to go to Hogwarts, it would be in the Daily Prophet for weeks and I’d  be hunted  down and sent to Azkaban leaving your father with twins, who the Ministry would deem him incapable of caring for and-- well, you get my point .”

 

Grace nodded in agreement,  maybe  the whole fake name could actually be useful. “So, what’s my name?”

 

“Your fake name?” Her aunt asked. “I'm pretty sure it's Ebony Chase.  I tried to make it unique, but not too distinct and yet still possible to trace back to a pure-blooded family that died out a few generations ago, for the occasion in which you do decided to join Slytherin . That way they won’t have any sort of prejudice against you.”

 

“You mean, I can be anyone I want to?” Grace asked.

 

“Well, yes, if you  really  want to,” Her aunt admitted. “But you’re eleven, I’d understand if you’d want to go to Hogwarts to learn, you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not.”

 

“I know, but it means that I can get to know Harry without him knowing we’re related. Do you know how cool and helpful that could be? If I showed up as his sister, we’ll both be in the spotlight and he might feel hurt that I didn’t tell him before Hogwarts.  But if I go under a fake name, I can get to know him and get close to him without him knowing that we’re even related, that could let us build a trust that will help him understand the truth later on .” Grace rambled, hardly stopping for a breath.

 

“That might actually work,” Her aunt mused as she processed what her niece had pieced together on the spot.

 

“But, there is still the house rivalry in the way if I go into Slytherin,” Grace pointed out, the excitement in her voice dissipating . “If I go into Slytherin then Harry might form a prejudice against me and we'll never be able to become friends.”

 

“That’s true,” Her aunt added. Grace was beginning to feel that her plan might not work after all. She might as well join Gryffindor so she could get close to him.  Then it dawned on her, if the sorting hat took suggestions, she could get into a different house altogether that way she didn’t have to suffer through Gryffindor  just  to know her brother .

 

“What if I got myself sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?” She suggested the idea to her aunt.  Her aunt may be a dark witch and not the smartest person in the world, but she was honest, at least to Grace, and she gave great advice that Grace appreciated 

 

“Well, that could work,” Her aunt considered. “But do you  really  want to give up the chance of being in Slytherin? I know how much you want to be there, and you'd do so well.”

 

That struck Grace pretty hard. Would she be willing to give up her childhood dream?  After all, she had always wanted to be a Slytherin, even as a little kid because she found the Gryffindors to be too arrogant and above the rules, and the Hufflepuffs tended to follow the rules too much  . She could  probably  deal with being in Ravenclaw, if she kept to herself. Even still, it would never be the same as being in Slytherin.  The people in Ravenclaw didn't have the same connection that Slytherins  were rumored  to have and Grace had been looking forward to experiencing it for herself  .  Nevertheless  , she needed to be able to befriend Harry and she couldn't doubt herself forever .

 

“I don’t know if I would want to, but I will if it means being able to get to know Harry,” Grace admitted.

 

“If you want to sort yourself in another house, it’s fine with me, but please do me a favor and don’t go into Gryffindor if you can avoid it . Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it from James and I'll have to dress up as Dumbledore.” Her aunt looked concerned at the thought of the possibility. "I should have never made that bet."

 

Grace giggled at the thought of her aunt with a beard as she  simultaneously  pictured herself as a Gryffindor, in bright, scarlet red robes . “I would never even dream of it, it’s so far off from my personality.”

 

“Then I’ll leave you to finish your books,” He aunt yawned. “It’s getting late. I’ll see you tomorrow.” At with that she turned to her room and disappeared inside. Grace soon followed her lead and headed into her room.  However  , she had no desire to sleep and instead, curled up under her sheets with her potions textbook, reading late into the night as she was intent on familiarizing herself with the material .

 

The few weeks remaining before Hogwarts passed by in a blur.  It wasn’t long before Grace found herself on platform 9¾ boarding the Hogwarts Express for the start of the school year  .  She was reluctant to say goodbye to her aunt and step onto the scarlet train, but when her aunt promised to write daily, Grace had no other option than to get on board or risk missing her ride to Hogwarts .

 

After searching a few train compartments for one not packed with a dozen kids, she found one towards the back of the train car that only had two people in it, one of which happened to be her brother  . The other person was a fiery haired boy wearing obvious hand-me-down robes.  Hesitantly , she opened the door and asked if she could sit with them. Both of the boys said yes and she took a seat on the bench next to her brother, making sure to close the door behind her.

 

“Thanks for letting me sit with you guys,” She said after a moment of silence.  By the look on their faces, they didn't seem completely used to sitting so close to a girl before, even though they had agreed to let her sit with them and had made no attempt to even hint to her that it wasn't okay with them .

 

“It’s no big deal,” The red headed boy answered with a shrug. “I’m Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley.”

 

“And I’m Harry Potter,” Her brother introduced himself with a small smirk. She had to bite back a smirk of her own and instead played along.

 

“ Really  ?” She faked enthusiasm, widening her eyes. “That’s so cool.  I mean, I’ve heard about you and that you were coming to Hogwarts this year but I never expected to actually meet you in person .” She lied. She had expected to meet him in person, he was her brother after all, even if he didn’t know it.

 

“I know, that’s how I felt when I ran into him earlier,” Ron explained. “He showed me his scar and everything.” She looked over at Harry.  He had messy jet-black hair that came with curly bangs which didn’t cover his eyes, but covered his scar pretty  nicely . It reminded her of their father’s hair. She had noticed that it seemed untamable when she met him at the Leaky Cauldron.

 

Harry noticed her gaze and swept his bangs out of the way, revealing his scar.  Unlike her own, which had healed over thanks to her aunt’s dark magic, Harry’s scar looked like it was only scabbed over at that it might start bleeding at any moment  . It was interesting  really  ,  maybe  it had something to do with a magical residue or something.

 

“Cool,” she commented and Harry let his hair fall over his forehead again. The train’s whistle blew and they started to pulled out of the station.  Grace pulled out her wand and started fiddling with it, a bored/nervous habit she had acquired in the past few weeks .

 

“Nice wand,” Harry commented. Grace looked over at him as he pulled out his own. It was a very handsome wand around a foot in length.  The wood was a lighter color than her own and nowhere near the reddish hue that hers possessed, but it was still  finely  crafted and attractive .

 

“Thanks, I like yours too,” She replied, trying to be nice and encourage a conversation. “What kind of wand is it?”

 

He thought for a moment before answering. “Holly with a phoenix feather core I’m pretty sure. What’s yours?” He looked  intently  at her wand, as if it  were made  of diamond.

 

“Cherry with a phoenix feather core,” She recalled. Not wanting to be rude, she looked over at Ron who had been listening. “What type of wand do you have?”

 

“Ash,” Ron said as he pulled out his wand. “With a unicorn tail hair core.” Grace nodded in thought.  Mr. Ollivander had only handed her wands with dragon heartstring and phoenix feather cores, not any with a unicorn hair core, that she knew of anyway  .  However  , she did remember hearing, or  maybe  reading, that Ollivander wands came with unicorn hair cores .

 

“Nice, unicorn hair cores  are supposed  to be consistent, right? Leading to few fluctuations?” She asked, hoping to get the others to talk a little bit more.

 

Instead, all she got was blank stares from them.

 

“I take it neither of you have read into wandlore?” She asked  hesitantly  and they both shook their heads. She herself hadn’t read into it that much herself,  just  a little.  It was  mainly  because the fact that her core-wood combination was so rare that it sparked her curiosity .

 

“Well, out of the three wand cores, unicorn hair  is supposed  to be quite consistent and faithful,” She explained  . “And while a dragon heartstring has the most raw power, it can  be won  over. A phoenix feather core  is said  to be hard to tame, but is quite versatile when it comes to spells.”

 

The two boys nodded their heads in agreement, taking in what she was saying. She doubted they’d remember though as they seemed as if they didn’t  really  care for having facts recited to them.

 

A few minutes later, a lady pushing a cart full of snacks stopped by and Harry and Grace both bought a handful of assorted treats and shared them with Ron . The chocolate frogs interested Ron the most and he told the both of them about his collection at home.

 

A little while later the door to the compartment  was opened  and a girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth looked inside, trying to get their attention .

 

“Excuse me, but have any of you guys seen a toad? Neville lost his,” She asked. Grace, Harry, and Ron all shook their heads. The girl eyed the candy wrappers in the compartment before making eye contact with Grace.  She looked like she wanted to say something, but when she stayed silent, Grace decided to answer  verbally .

 

“No, we haven’t,” Grace spoke up. “But we’ll keep an eye out for it. Tell him that we hope he finds his toad?”  The girl nodded her head and moved on to the next compartment, but her spot in the door  was taken by  a white-blond haired boy and two beefy boys on either side on him moments later .

 

“Can we help you?” Grace asked and the boy looked at her with intense silver-grey eyes.  The way he held himself told Grace that he wasn’t new to the wizarding world and the way he looked at her made her believe that he was from one of the pure-blooded families  .  Judging by his hair color,  maybe  even the same one as the strange lady she had seen at Ollivanders when she had gone to get her wand .

 

“Yes, at least he can,” He gestured towards her brother.  “I couldn’t help but notice that Harry Potter was in here, and I wanted to help him fit in with the aid of my friendship,” He held out his hand towards Harry, but nobody moved .

 

“Oh  just  leave him alone, Malfoy, he doesn’t need you as a friend,” Ron spat and the blond pulled back his offered handshake.  At the mention of that surname, Grace knew that the boy must be Draco Malfoy, heir to a prestigious pure-blooded family known for being in Slytherin  . Her aunt said that she had talked with Narcissa Malfoy once while she was studying the dark arts.  Apparently  they held a lot of power in the Ministry and were very resectable.

 

“Red hair, hand-me-down clothes,” Draco analyzed, muttering to himself. “You must be a Weasley. I’ve heard all about your family.  Those blood-traitors who associate with muggles and have more kids than they can afford .”

 

Ron’s face turned red in anger as if he was going to retaliate, but Draco turned his attention back to Harry.

 

“Come with me and you can leave this blood traitor behind and I can show you the best people to associate with,” Draco offered  .  Grace thought the offer was quite generous, considering the fact that Harry Potter was well known as a half-blood .

 

“ I think  I can choose my friends for myself, thank you,” Harry turned down the offer with a hint of wit. Draco glared at Harry, angry with the rejection of his friendship. Grace figured it was  probably  due to the fact that he had always gotten what he wanted when he was younger 

Draco, and the two boys who flanked, him left with a huff, the door to the compartment closed behind them with.

 

“Oh, I  really  don’t like him,” Ron said through his teeth. “He always thinks he’s so ‘high and mighty’ because his dad works so high up in the Ministry.”

 

Grace took a moment to consider Ron’s viewpoint.  From what she had heard from her aunt, the Weasley family worked in the muggle artifact field in the Ministry, which was  relatively  underpaid  .  That  probably  left a bad impression on the other pure-blooded families, making them hate the Weasleys .

 

“Your dad works in the Ministry, right?” She asked. Ron looked at her with brief flash of horror before it melted into confusement.

 

“Well, yeah, but how do you know?” He questioned.

 

“It wasn’t that hard to put together. When you introduced yourself I recognized your last name.  Your father, Arthur Weasley, works in the Ministry of Magic as the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, right ?” Grace clarified. She was going on a complete whim, Ron could have been the son of one of Arthur’s brothers or cousins or whatever.

 

“Uh, yeah, he does,” Ron confirmed. “And my father doesn’t like the Malfoy’s because they look down upon us because we’re muggle sympathizers.”

 

Harry and Ron continued their conversation while Grace headed out to change into her Hogwarts robes  . She  briefly  encouraged the boys to do the same before she searched for an area to change.

 

When she came back to the compartment which held Harry and Ron, she noticed that they had gotten into their Hogwarts robes as well . She once again took the seat next to Harry and fiddled with her wand.

 

“You know there are pockets in your robes for your wand, right?” Harry asked. Grace realized her actions and blushed.

 

“Oh, sorry, it’s a nervous habit and I don’t  really  trust the pockets to keep my wand safe, even with added enchantments,” She  subconsciously  gripped her wand tighter .

 

“Nah, it’s okay, I  just  wanted to make sure you weren’t oblivious to the existence of your robe’s pockets,” Harry reassured her  .  The train’s whistle blew, a five minute warning and prefects made their way to each compartment, making sure everyone  was changed .

 

Before long, the Hogwarts castle came into view and the train pulled into the station. As they filed their way out of the train cars, Grace spotted a tall man who was gathering up  all of  the first years.

 

Grace hurried to catch up with the crowd of others in her year as they began loading into boats. Her, Harry, and Ron got into a boat with the bushy haired girl from earlier.

 

The tall man, a half-giant name Hagrid, guided the boats around the castle, giving them an excellent view as he briefed them on some of the castle’s more interesting facts  .  As the boats traveled through the water, the girl introduced herself as Hermione Granger  .  She also proceeded to sputter out all sorts of facts about Hogwarts, its history, and the classed they would be taking . By the sound of it, she had spent her summer reading her textbook cover to cover, memorizing them.

 

When they reached the shore, Hagrid led them inside and into a large corridor.

 

“Ah, Hagrid,” An aged voice spoke up from in front of the crowd. “The first years I presume?”

 

“Yes Ma’am,” Hagrid nodded before addressing the crowd of eleven year olds. “This is Professor McGonagall, the er, Head of da Gryffindor house.”

 

“Yes, thank you Hagrid,” Professor McGonagall dismissed Hagrid. “Welcome, First Years, to Hogwarts.  Now the start-of-the-term feast will be starting  momentarily  , but before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, you must  be sorted  into your house  .  Now, the sorting ceremony is quite important here as it placing you into your house, which  is sort of  like your family while here at Hogwarts  .  You will sit with your house at meals, attend classes with your housemates, sleep in your house dormitories, and spend free time in your house common room .

 

“The four houses here at Hogwarts are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each has their own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards.  During your time at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points while any rule breaking will lose your house points  . I hope you will credit whichever house you join.  Now the Sorting Ceremony will begin  momentarily  , so  I suggest  you smarten yourselves up while you wait .” Professor McGonagall gave a stern look to a couple of the kids in the crowd.

 

“Now, wait here, I’ll be right back to bring you to the sorting ceremony.”  Professor McGonagall left through a double door and the first years  were left  to talk amongst themselves .

 

“Do you know what the sorting ceremony is?” Ron asked Grace and Harry. “And do you think it will hurt? My brother Fred said it hurt and that we had to wrestle a troll, but don’t think  I believe  them.”

 

Harry shook his head saying that his father never mentioned what sorted them.  Grace was about to tell them about the sorting hat, when silver figures floated through the walls, engaged in conversation .

 

“-I mean, he’s not even a real ghost.” She heard one say as it floated past. Grace was a little taken aback for sure. Neither her mother, nor father mentioned anything about ghosts at Hogwarts.

 

“Ooo, what do we have here?” A particularly cheerful ghost piped up. “First years about to  be sorted  hmm? I  certainly  hope to see you in Hufflepuff, it was my old house you know.”

 

“You’d be great in Ravenclaw,” One ghost spoke to a girl with light blonde hair.  Grace  really  hoped Professor McGonagall would come back soon, she was getting a little bit weirded out by the fact that ghosts were starting up conversations and floating through stuff .

 

Sure enough, Professor McGonagall came back like she had said and brought the crowd of first years into the Great Hall  .  The hall itself was  absolutely  massive, much longer than it was wide, but still wide enough for four long tables, which ran parallel to each other for the length of the room, and for them to  be spaced  apart  .  At the front of the Hall, stood a table where a bunch of professors sat and in front of that table was a stool, upon which sat an old tattered pointed hat .

 

Professor McGonagall guided them to the front of the hall and made them stay quiet while the hat sprung to life and sang a song  .  Being towards the back of the crowd, Grace didn’t get to hear the whole thing, but towards the end she managed to hear a few lines that  really  caught her attention .

 

"Or  perhaps  in Slytherin,

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means,

To achieve their ends."

 

She felt as though those words  were directed  at her.  Her heart ached as she longed to be in Slytherin, where she could make friends with like-minded people, but she had made her decision and  was determined  not to let the hat sort her there .

 

When the sorting hat finished singing, the whole hall erupted in applause before Professor McGonagall addressed the first years .

 

“When I call your name, come to the stool and try on the hat, then you will join your house table.”  Then she opened up a scroll and called out the first name on what must have been a list of first years; a girl name Hannah Abbott .

 

Hannah pushed through the crowd of first years and scurried up to the stool and sat on it as Professor McGonagall place the hat on her head . Neither Hannah nor the hat made a sound for a good minute. Then the hat, with a loud voice yelled “GRYFFINDOR!”

 

The Gryffindor table burst into an applause and Hannah hurried to joint them. Then Professor McGonagall called the next name on the list and the process repeated.  As the names appeared to be in alphabetical order, Grace didn’t  really  start paying attention until Professor McGonagall reached the C’s .

 

“Chase, Ebony,” Professor McGonagall’s voice finally announced and Grace stepped up to the stool, repeating in her head Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw. When she sat on the stool, McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head and it slipped over her eyes and it became evident that if she tugged it down any further, her whole head could have fit inside.

 

_“Oh this is interesting,”_ A voice spoke up in her head. _“It appears that you did not come under your real identity.”_

 

_I would have._ Grace defended her case to the voice, which must have been the hat. _But it’s better that the world doesn’t know who I really  am, they don’t even know I exist.  I agreed to come under a fake name so that I could get to know my brother without hurting his feeling with the fact that I’m his sister he never knew about._

 

_“Clever and well thought out, I also see a lot of resourcefulness and ambition in you. You would do well in Slytherin. Yes, I can see it clearly  , that is definitely the house for you. I can see all your memories, you know. I can see all that you’ve been through and how you’ve reacted.  You are quite the balanced witch, young Grace, but your core traits  are indeed  Slytherin, your preferred house .”_

 

Grace felt weird, having a hat read  all of  her thoughts and know her deepest thoughts and feelings.  The hat continued to  seemingly  talk to itself, debating on how strong her traits were and looking through her memories  in order to  determine her house  .  Even when he began talking about traits she shared with the houses other than Slytherin, she found out two things  . One, he never mentioned any traits that she shared with Gryffindor.  And two, he always came back to the point of how Slytherin she was, especially when he discovered that she  willingly  practiced the Dark Arts .

 

_“In Slytherin, young Grace, you could become one of the greatest witches to step foot into this school. Your passion for greatness and power is a worthy ambition and it aligns  perfectly  with the Slytherin ideal.”_ He seemed convinced. _“Most definitely, I think  you will be in-”_

 

_Ravenclaw!_ She interjected, desperate to not be in Slytherin. _Please, I can’t be in Slytherin, I want to, but I can’t. I can’t let a petty house rivalry to get in the way of me and my brother._

 

_“Ah, yes, old Ravenclaw.”_ The hat considered. _“That is a wise house, I’m definitely sure that Rowena would love you as a house member. You can do well there, not as well as Slytherin, but you can still be successful. You’re still exceptionally  bright and full of wit. Ravenclaw won’t bring you opportunities that you wouldn’t have in any of the other houses though. _

_“But your love for learning and raw intelligence will allow you to fit in well.”_

 

_I know._ She piped in. _Other than Slytherin, this is the best house I fit in._

 

_“It is a very great shame not to put you in Slytherin, and the reason for you not wishing to be there makes you all the more one of them. But I respect your wishes and as you do not wish to be there, you better be RAVENCLAW!”_ The hat yelled her new house out loud to the rest of the students.

 

After a brief moment of hesitation, the Ravenclaw table began to cheer. She  quickly  hurried over to the table and took a seat in an empty spot.  Her heart raced and her head buzzed from the fact that she had convinced the hat not to put her into Slytherin, despite it being the only house that could bring her to her full potential .

  

By the time she returned her thoughts to the sorting, Professor McGonagall had  just  called Draco Malfoy’s name . She noticed how odd it was, how when the hat was an inch away from his head, the hat called out Slytherin. If the hat had done that with her, she would have had to scrap her plan and come up with a new one from scratch.

 

One by one, the rest of the new first years  were sorted  . Her brother got into Gryffindor, like she had thought, and so did Ron. Once everyone had  been sorted  , Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, gave a speech.  Grace only half listened, she heard that the Forbidden Forest  was indeed  , forbidden to the students and that the third floor corridor was also off limits, but she didn’t pay any attention to the odd words he muttered afterwards .

 

However , she started paying attention when the food appeared on the table. Feeling a bit hungry, Grace helped herself to the food on the table, following the lead of those around her.

 

As her housemates ate whatever they had helped themselves to, they engaged in small talk. Grace  curiously  overheard several bits and pieces. Interesting most of those she heard were actually about her.

 

“That Ebony’s sorting was weird,” She heard one Ravenclaw boy whisper a few seats away.

 

“The hat-- it sat on her head for almost ten minutes,” She heard another voice say.

 

“They flashed green halfway through and--” A third voice chattered from across the table. She knew the whispers were about her.  The first two voices seemed to have been talking together and the third-- well, she was the only one who had almost been in Slytherin .

 

Overall  , dinner went well.  She  successfully  avoided any conversation with her housemates, and was one of the first to arrive at their common room,  just  behind the prefect as they made their way up a narrow and winding staircase .

 

“Now today’s password is ‘eagle’ so don’t forget, but everyday from tomorrow onward, you must answer a logic riddle  in order to  gain access,” One of the prefects, a blonde, explained  .  “Should you get it wrong you must wait for someone else to come along and get it right, but don’t worry too much as you  were sorted  into this house for a reason .”

 

The inside of Ravenclaw tower was stunning. Grace had half expected it to be  basically  a library, but it wasn’t. It had high ceilings an was an open space decorated in the house colors, blue and bronze.  Several windows ordained the circular tower and several doorways lead off into areas of the tower,  probably  the dormitories .

 

It didn’t take long for the prefect to sort the first year girls into their dormitories.  There were only a handful of girls in her year, so they got divided into two rooms with four girls in one and three in the other  .  Luckily for Grace, she only had to deal with two roommates, a shy blonde with a suntan and a ton of freckles, and a talkative brunette with flawless pale skin, luckily she seemed to spend most of her time with the girls in the other dormitories .

 

“Uh... hi, I’m Stacy,” The blonde girl introduced herself as they got ready for bed. Stacy hardly bothered to maintain eye contact, and busied herself with settling in.

 

“I’m Ebony,” Grace offered the introduction. Stacy  merely  nodded in response, although she did appear as though she wanted to say more.  Instead, she closed the drapes to the window, which  was situated  between the two beds, and crawled into her bed .

 

Grace copied her roommate, not bothering to stay awake any longer.

 

The next morning, Grace woke up when a bright flash of light streamed into her eyes. She had to fight the urge to go back to sleep and forced herself to get out of bed.

 

“Good morning, Ebony,” A shy voice piped up from the doorway that connected the dorm room to a bathroom.  Grace looked up to see Stacy, all ready in her school robes, brushing her hair, which Grace noticed went at least to her hip .

 

“Good morning, Stacy,” Grace returned. She reached to the bedside table for her glasses, but found them missing. She grabbed her wand off the table and, rolling out of bed, dragged herself to her trunk.

 

Peering inside, she noticed that her glasses, with pure black frames and diva points, were sitting on top of her books . She groaned and put them on her face. Everything came into focus, and she got changed into her robes which now had the Ravenclaw crest on them. As much as she wished her robes were a Slytherin green, Grace had to admit that the Ravenclaw blue wasn’t so bad.

 

Once she gathered up her text books for charms and transfiguration, the two classes she had that day, she headed out of the common room towards the Great Hall .

 

As she wandered through the halls, she noticed that several staircases had moved from their positions the night before,  thoroughly  confusing her . Luckily, she had found of crowd of older Ravenclaws to follow to the great hall.

 

Once she arrived at breakfast, she didn’t stay long.  She hurried to eat her fill of food and planned to wait only for the mail to come before she planned to take off to the library .

 

She found it quite fun to watch hundreds of owls and other exotic birds  fly  into the Great Hall, delivering letters and small parcels to students  .  She didn’t expect to get anything, but Rusty flew in and dropped two letters into her lap before snagging a piece of her bacon and flying off .

 

Grace took a quick look at who the letters were from. The first one was  clearly  written by her aunt, in her immaculate cursive. The other one only had her name scratched on the front in familiar handwriting. Deciding not to open the letters at the table, she tucked them in the pockets in her robes and headed to the library.

 

According to the time table she had received towards the begining of breakfast, her first class wasn’t for a good two hours, meaning she had time to read her letters and get a book from the library  . So she made her way down the corridors, getting directions from the moving portraits on the walls.  Unsurprisingly  , She found that the portraits of past Hufflepuffs were the most useful as Slytherins  were biased  against those not in their house, Ravenclaws told her to find it herself, and Gryffindors said that she should know where it was because she was a know-it-all Ravenclaw .

 

Grace was the only one in the library when she arrived which came as no shock to her as everyone was likely still at breakfast or in their common rooms  . As a result, she had the liberty to browse in peace to choose any book that happened to spark her curiosity.  However , she put her letters first on her priority list, over her desire to read.

 

It didn’t take her long to find a secluded table on the far side of the library where she could read in privacy should anyone walk in  .  Carefully  , she opened her first letter, the one from her aunt and read it  thoroughly .

 

_Dear Grace (Or should I say Ebony?),_

_I hope you have been settling in well at Hogwarts, and haven’t completely isolated yourself. Last night I met up with James and we placed a bet on what house you and your brother would get into. James decided that Harry would get into Gryffindor and that you would get into either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff (As if!), but I claimed that Harry would be in Gryffindor or Slytherin while you would be in Ravenclaw . (James got quite upset when I suggested that his son would be in Slytherin, it was quite entertaining.) So if you could write back the results of the sorting, that would be wonderful._

_Anyway, I have enclosed a few of the darker charms and hexes I’ve taught you in the past so that you can practice them. (But do find a secret place first.) I would hate to have you fall out of practice with them especially when you now have a wand to cast the spells with. I have also enclosed the spell to remove any trace of the semi-dark spells from your wand. I hope you do well in your classes and feel free to owl me with any questions you may have._

_With Love,_

_Olivia_

 

Grace smiled at the letter before folding it back up again and placing it into her bag for safe keeping along with the sheet of paper that had been inside of the folded letter . She would write back to her aunt later. She looked at the second letter and opened it.

 

_Dear Grace,_

_How’s your first day at Hogwarts? Over the past few weeks Harry has been nothing short but excited to finally learn magic. I take it that your aunt has taught you some in the past? She told me last night when we met up together. She also mentioned that you were excited  for transfiguration and potions.  While  I might  not be the greatest in potions, I used to be quite good at transfiguration during my Hogwarts years, so if you need any pointers I’m here to help  .  I hope to  hear back from you soon and good luck in your classes._

_Your Father,_

_James Potter_

 

Grace couldn’t help the warm feeling that erupted in her chest while she read the letter from her father. It seemed like a form of excitement and joy at the fact that her father had written to her.  Sure, she was happy that her aunt had written to her, but the fact that her father had taken time out of his day to write to her on the first day of school made her chest swell . Usually her wrote to her every week or so, but this letter marked the second letter in a week.

 

Like she had with the first letter, she put the piece of parchment into her bag to respond to later. Then she got up and searched for a good book to read.  As she hadn’t been to any classes yet, she didn’t know which books would be useful to her, so she decided on  just  finding something that sparked her curiosity .

 

Silently  , she browsed through several shelves, not finding what she was looking for.  Most books seemed to take what would  be taught  in class and gave it back in greater detail than what could  be covered  in the classroom  .  Others seemed purposed to help muggle-born or half-blood students to understand traditions and customs of the wizarding world extending back hundreds of generations .

 

A third type of books she found were different. They were less common to find as she browsed, but they were still there and she found a couple. They actually gave new information, information not taught in the school.  Grace knew this because the school  probably  didn’t have a class called “Pure-blood family tree studies” or “The ancient theories on the importance of having pure blood,” where any of the books she saw would come in handy .

 

Grace found those books to be curious and so she took one on pure-blood theories and took a seat in the far corner, where she had left her stuff .

 

As far as blood status went, she was a half-blood, as was her brother, but not in the typical sense.  Normal half-bloods were witches or wizards with one magical parent and one muggle parent  .  However  , both of Grace’s parents were magical and her father was a pure-blood himself.  What gave her the half-blood status was the fact that her mother had been muggle born and that she didn't have the required four magical grandparents that all pure-bloods had  .  Should she marry a pure-blood in the future, her children, if she had any, would be pure-bloods as magic would extend in their heritage to the required amounts of generations .

 

As she read, Grace didn’t notice the time that went by.  Soon enough, students who had a free hour, like herself, started filing in and nobody paid her any attention  .  It wasn’t until a little later when she she heard students whispering about needed to get to class that she realized how much time had gone by  . She  quickly  hurried out of the library, rushing to check out one of the books she had decided to read. She only had a limited amount of time to get to her first charms class of the year and she did not want to be late.

 

The corridors were confusing to say the least.  She took the wrong staircase a few times and almost got herself lost, but she  eventually  found her way to her charms class with the aid of a couple ghosts and portraits .

 

She arrived right behind a group of Ravenclaws and wasted no time slipping into a seat in the back as Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher and her head of house, introduced the class .

 

Grace listened  patiently  , soaking in everything he said and comparing it to what her aunt had said about the subject  .  Personally  , she liked charms, the idea of being able to make something dance or float with  just  a few words intrigued her  .  Plus, she was good at it and could perform several by herself already, although a handful of them weren't the best in quality .

 

By the end of the class, Grace couldn’t help but look forward to the rest of the year.  She almost resented the idea of leaving the classroom as she wanted to stay there and learn about charms for the rest of the day  .  However , it was time for lunch and she couldn’t deny the growling of her stomach which begged for food.

 

Lunch in the great hall was different from breakfast and the welcome feast the night before. This time, when she sat in her spot, people actually wanted to talk to her.

  

“Hi, I’m Jolee,” One girl greeted Grace as she sat in her spot and help herself to some food.

 

“Uh, hi,” She  awkwardly  greeted back. “I’m Ebony.” The girl, Jolee, giggled.

 

“Oh, everyone knows that, you had one of the most interesting sortings last night. After Harry Potter’s of course, but yours is the talk of Ravenclaw.” Jolee explained.

 

Grace felt her face burn. People were talking about her? That’s not what she wanted to happen. “They... it is?” She croaked, having to hold back her feeling of dread. What if everyone started talking about her and her secret came out? Oh, everyone would hate her so much after that, especially Harry.

 

Jolee nodded. “Yeah,  mainly  because you sat on that stool for like, ten whole minutes. But also because your robes almost showed the Slytherin crest about halfway through.”

 

Grace didn’t know how to respond to that. What was she supposed to say? That she was talking the hat out of putting her in Slytherin? Definitely not.

 

“Oh,  really ?” Grace finally asked. “The hat did consider putting my in Slytherin, but it put me in Ravenclaw in the end.” She half lied.

 

“Oh, that’s cool. Most people who have Slytherin traits end up in Slytherin, you know.  Not many  have enough traits of the other houses to land them anywhere else. But I’m glad you got into Ravenclaw.” Jolee turned her head back to her plate and allowed Grace to eat her lunch in piece.

 

However  ,  just  like she had with breakfast, she left the moment she finished eating, determined not to be late, or the last person, to her transfiguration class .

 

Once again, she  was saved  from getting lost by the portraits of past Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, as the Slytherins refused to help anyone not in their house and the Ravenclaws yelled at her to figure it out herself .

 

Transfiguration was a lot different than charms.  First of all, Professor McGonagall started the class as a cat and then leaped from her desk and changed into her regular self mid-air .

 

“Good afternoon, class,” She greeted.  “If didn’t know already or if you forgot from last night, I am Professor McGonagall and I will teach you transfiguration . Now, each of you has a match in front of you, I want you to try and turn it into a needle. Concentrate, you are all Ravenclaws so I expect you to at least make some progress by the end of the hours.

 

Grace gave her match a glare. She wanted to be able to get it right on the first try, and show everyone up.  She wanted to be the best in her class and she felt like she had that ability, but there was also the slight thought of failure in the back of her mind . What if she couldn’t make as much progress as everyone else? What if-

 

“Miss Chase, Is everything alright?” Professor McGonagall asked when Grace had failed to raise her wand and at least pretend to be trying.

 

“Oh, yes, Professor, everything’s fine,” She blushed.

 

“Then  I suggest  you raise your wand,” She smirked. “You might find that you’ll make better progress.”

 

Grace’s blush deepend. “Of-of course, Professor.” She raised her wand and pointed it at the match, trying to imagine it getting pointy and turning silver. She replayed the image over and over until she could almost see it happening with her eyes open.

 

She took a deep breath and focused on channeling her emotion into her wand, a technique her aunt had taught her to be able to perform magic under any circumstance  .  She learned early on that having strong emotions such as anger or hatred, won’t harm a spell if you channel the right amount of that emotion, instead of letting it flow through your wand .

 

As she concentrated, Grace noticed that her match turned a dull silver and a moment later, became pointy . She took another deep breath and channeled her desire to be on top of the class. Then the dull silver brightened, like someone had polished it.

  

“Very good job, Miss Chase,” Professor McGonagall congratulated.  “Take five points for Ravenclaw for being the only first year to  successfully complete  this exercise in the first half of class .”

 

Grace beamed in pride. She would definitely write about this to her aunt and father. They would be so proud. Much unlike the other Ravenclaws who had started giving her dirty looks.

 

There were only a handful of Ravenclaw first year girls and only a few more boys, but almost  all of  them were having mixed feelings on how she had beat them in a class, but also earned them points .

 

She spent the rest of class trying to turn the match back. This proved to be harder than the other transformation. She tried the same technique, but her initial desire had somewhat faded, giving her less to work with.  By the end of class  however  , she managed to at least produce a dull silver match which earned Ravenclaw another two points .

 

Grace couldn’t help but feel happy as she walked through the halls to the dormitory to put her books away, but the feeling didn’t last long  .  As she entered the corridors below Ravenclaw tower, a sinking feeling in her chest caused her to pause in her steps. She took a deep breath to relieve herself of the feeling but it didn't go away. She decided to brush it off and took a step towards the staircase for Ravenclaw tower. However, the feeling spread to her gut and it began to feel as though someone was tugging on her insides.  

 

A wave of nausea rushed over her and she reach a hand towards the wall for support, but it was of no use. Her had missed her intended target and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

 


End file.
